Benfica 2-1 Liverpool: Benfica scrap to a victory, but it should have been more resounding

April 2, 2010

The starting line-ups

A decent game for the neutral tonight, but fairly underwhelming from a tactical point of view. Both sides played as expected, the result was no surprise, and all the goals came from defensive mistakes rather than attacking brilliance.

Benfica played with a variation of their usual shape, because of the injury to Javier Saviola. Pablo Aimar moved forward into a more offensive role behind Oscar Cardoso, whilst Carlos Martins came into the centre of midfield. This change meant that Ramires and Angel di Maria played slightly wider than usual, and the two swapped wings throughout the game, although di Maria was always more effective on his natural left-hand side.

Liverpool’s shape was a familiar, solid 4-2-3-1 that looked to get men behind the ball and pinch goals either on the break, or from a set-play.

As so often with Rafael Benitez in European knockout ties, his plan worked very well. Although Liverpool were under constant pressure early on, they managed to break at speed with Gerrard and Torres, and when the Liverpool captain won a free-kick on the left, they went ahead through Daniel Agger. Benfica defended the free-kick really poorly – they set out zonally, but the problem was not the zonal marking as such, it was the way the system was deployed, with a single line of players. When the free-kick is that central, and that close to the byline, there must be one player ahead of the line of defenders, preventing the cut-back. There wasn’t, and Agger took advantage.

Liverpool switched to 4-4-1 when Babel was sent-off

After Ryan Babel was needlessly sent-off, Liverpool switched to a 4-4-1ish formation, with Kuyt playing infront of Johnson, and Gerrard drifting in from a left-sided position in a similar fashion to the role he plays with England, as the main support to Torres.

The way Liverpool set-up initially (defensively, playing on the counter) meant that the sending-off didn’t alter their overall strategy, and they weathered the storm quite well, with two deep banks of four in front of Reina, and Torres left to battle high up the pitch. The only concern was Emiliano Insua, who had a shocking first half – and on a yellow card became exposed to the runs of Ramires and di Maria.

Benfica passed the ball around well and created more chances, but they missed Saviola hugely. His role is to play ‘around’ Cardoso, looking for his knock-downs and making runs both towards the ball, and over the top. Aimar is a fine player and not dissimilar from Saviola in physique, but he struggled to compensate for his fellow Argentinian’s absence. Saviola would have given a further option by testing the Liverpool centre-backs on the ground – they were constantly caught out in the air, but Cardoso missed numerous headed opportunities (although his two penalties were superb). Jamie Carragher, in particular, can be exposed against pace and skill but had a relatively easy ride despite Benfica’s numerical advantage.

Benfica's switch to two strikers

Benfica needed goals in this game, and it was this that convinced Jorge Jesus to introduce another striker at 1-1, in the shape of Nuno Gomes. He replaced the right-back Maxi Pereira (who often fails to produce quality on the ball in the final third) and played just off Cardoso. Ramires switched to right-back to compensate – but he had less license to come forward than the left-back, Fabio Coentrao, since Gerrard was more of an attacking threat than Durk Kuyt.

Although Benfica went onto score another goal, the switch to two strikers was a poor move. It took a player out of midfield, and suddenly Benfica had less possession and stopped creating chances. The goal came from a (slightly fortunate) penalty, and they resorted to 35-yard potshots from their centre-backs, rather than the crisp, patient passing game they’d played when they were playing 4-4-1-1. Gomes hardly touched the ball, and Liverpool’s two banks of four were far more comfortable with Gomes standing upfront waiting for service, rather than the now-subdued Ramires’ runs.

Benfica played so well initially because they had three players (Ramires, Aimar and di Maria) running at two holding midfield players (Mascherano and Lucas), with Martins and Javi Garcia free behind them. The switch to two strikers meant Aimar was deeper, and Ramires was miles away from most of the action.

As with two other Europa League matches, the 2-1 scoreline makes it a fairly balanced tie, and Benitez will be confident his side can progress through to the semi-finals at Anfield. Benfica needed a third goal to really tip the balance of the tie, and having played at home for an hour with one additional player, they really should have got it.

21 Responses to “ Benfica 2-1 Liverpool: Benfica scrap to a victory, but it should have been more resounding ”

Ryan on April 2, 2010 at 2:08 am

This really had the makings of a great game — Benitez’s cagey, successful approach away in Europe and Benfica’s open, attacking style at home. It looked like Rafa was on his way to another great result in Europe, but then the ref decided to take over, needlessly sending Babel off. Liverpool were always going to be on their heels for the remainder of the game, now down a man. The refereeing was absolutely terrible in the game and it killed what should have been a great tie.

Liverpool should be happy with the result, but not at all with the way it came about: two penalites, a red card, a questionable offside call, and a terribly cynical approach to defending Torres.

With that said, it’s hard for me to look at this game, tactically, as anything more than an anomaly. Benfica looked great going forward, easily moving the ball into the final third, but who knows whether the open style would’ve worked against a full eleven for Liverpool for 90 minutes? The visitors were marginally effective on the counter with ten men and assuredly would’ve posed more of a constant threat with a full in-game squad.

Di Maria was the man of the match for me. He’s got a great left foot and always looked dangerous. As for his wing partner, Ramires, I wasn’t impressed. He didn’t show much, if anything. He’d get forward, but his final ball was off. I didn’t see him beat anyone on the dribble either.

Was anyone else underwhelmed by him?

Roberticus on April 2, 2010 at 3:57 am

Underwhelmed by Ramires?

No, he’s a box-to-box player, a fine athlete, just one of those players who are seven-out-of-ten in every category but nine-out-of-ten in none.

Ryan on April 2, 2010 at 4:28 am

I understand what you’re saying. He does everything well, nothing great and nothing poorly. I just came away from the game thinking that he was poor. I understand that he doesn’t necessarily do anything that makes you go “wow,” but I felt like a bunch of times he either played the wrong ball or failed to complete the right one.

I’m not saying he’s a bad player. He’s solid and has a place in a lot of teams, but I thought he had a bad day.

I thought his end product was a bit lacking, I agree with that. He’s not an ‘exciting’ winger like di Maria. If di Maria is the Cristiano Ronaldo of the side, Ramires is more like the Park Ji-Sung – effective and reliable but not flashy.

VENCI GOCHEV on April 3, 2010 at 6:54 am

WHEN BENFICA SWITCH TWO SRIKERS RAFA MAKE MISYTAKE:( MUST TORRES GOING OUT AND RAFA MUST SWICH SOME MIDFILDER BECOUSE BENFICAS PLAYER JAVI GARCIA IS A FREE – THIS A VERY DANGEROUS FOR LIVERPOOL!!!!!!

António Fernandes on April 5, 2010 at 3:48 pm

I’d like to add a few details to this.

Benfica didn’t play with the usual formation, which is not as simple as it may seem at first.

Saviola, who missed the game, is the player that ususally balances the 4-1-3-2 and the role of Ramires in the midfield.
In fact, Ramires is not a winger although being placed in the center-right; he’s like a box-to-box; his role is not to open wide and make crosses from the bottom line, like Di Maria on the left.
His role is more like an inner-right, helping on winning the ball faster, filling the spaces and passing the ball.
Saviola is the player with the mission to go between the box (helping Cardozo) and the right side of the attack.

Let’s see:

——x——-
———-x—
————–
–x—-x——
———x—-
——x——-
-x———-x-
—–x–x—–

Ramires is asked to help often Javi Garcia as a defensive midfielder.
In that case, when the ball is won back, it can be Aimar or Saviola looking for spaces on the right, depending if that shows closer to the box or the midfield:

—–x——–
——–x—–
–x———–
———-x—
————–
—–x—x—-
-x———-x-
—–x–x—–

Or

—–x——–
———–x–
–x———–
——-x——
————–
—–x—x—-
-x———-x-
—–x–x—–

On the left wing, it’s easier.
Di Maria is a pure winger.
He goes up on the field, running with the ball.

This is why Benfica is not the typical team with only one defensive midfielder (Ramires is more like a second one) or two forwards (Saviola is more like a trequartista/right forward).
This is the reason why they never play with two pure strikers (if Saviola can’t play, they put Aimar on that role) or two pure wingers (when Ramires is not available, who comes in is a inner midfielder, never a player like Di Maria).

The more important move in their game is the diagonal attacking runs made by Di Maria on the left and Aimar/Saviola on the right.

The fact of using Aimar in the place of Saviola and Martins in Aimar’s usual position, weakened the routines and the spontaneity of their game.

And that was why they didn’t win like they should have, in normal conditions, against a tired Liverpool of ten men.

onewierdcigarette on April 2, 2010 at 2:10 am

great site you have here. keep up the good work.

also agree with the poster above regarding Ramires

Glen Tuohey on April 2, 2010 at 2:29 am

Disgusted by the referee’s performance today. How Luisao didn’t get sent off for chopping down Torres is beyond me. Even then he should have been shown a second yellow for the aggression shown against Babel.

Very good tactical analysis, I just didn’t see Benfica winning this one with a full 11 man squad out for Liverpool.

I also didn’t think the handball was intentional and the official must have been feeling intimidated by the firecrackers going off beside him. Imagine if he didn’t give it, there would have been hell.

As a Benfica fan I was not impressed by today’s performance.
Julio Cesar, our keeper looked nervous and a bit overwhelmed by the ocasion. He’s not the one who starts in the league and his lack of games showed.
Our defence was solid, but not spectacular, and the defending in Liverpool’s goal was awful. Javi Garcia was our best player imo, he recovered lots of balls and kept winning chalenges on midfield. Ramires was sloppy, he’s far from the form that he started the season. Di Maria was giving away the ball way too easily and his defensive work was sketchy. Carlos martins was missing lots of passes, Aimar was sloppy in possession and Cardozo was just comical, he’s really going to a rough patch, keeps missing easy goal after easy goal.

I believe that Liverpool will play much better in the second hand, but with Saviola back (hopefuly) and a more focused performance I know we have and can play a lot better that we did tonight. Looking forward to the second hald at Anfield.

It’s important to say that most Benfica suporters strongly disaprove of the actions of a few stupid hooligans that dont know how to act at a sporting event.

Roland on April 2, 2010 at 6:18 am

Nice article. I would like to see a tactical article on fluid, versatile players like Robinho, Samir Nasri, and one mentioned here, Ramires.

Reltively to Ramires, it should be pointed that he hasn’t had holidays in well over one year, since he left Brazil in the summer (northern hemisphere one, that is) when the brazilian league is in full throttle and arrived to Portugal to immediately start his work. Besides, he’s been so integral to Benfica’s season that he has been starting almost every match (and finishing them as well). On the other hand, he is not a winger, just someone who gives support through the wing, where more often than not, the last cross comes from Maxi Pereira (who is actually very good in the last pass but had a poor night yesterday).

Relatively to the referee, I agree he was very poor, but I do think there is in here a strong british bias by most commentators. I agree that Luisão could well have been sent off for a second yellow for that aggression showed to Babel, but Babel was a complete idiot in touching Luisão twice in the face when the referee was between them. His red card has no excuse, referee or otherwise. On the other hand, for anyone thinking that Luisão and David Luiz were playing unfairly with Torres, maybe a look at all the seasons endured by Ronaldo or other creative players in England would be pedagogical. Then, a second yellow card to Ínsua for the penalty (he chops Aimar’s leg during a clear scoring opportunity) would be the least to him. Lastly, Agger seemed to have been requesting a booking for all his time on the pitch. It seemed that any foul by Liverpool, no matter how obvious, would request a fit from him against the referee. Want “Respect campaigns”? Teach them to Agger.

Tactically, it is indifferent is Liverpool played with 10 or 11. One player was sent off and those are the rules of the game, it’s not that Benfica were given an unfair advantage just because they are playing against the big mighty Liverpool. On the other hand, Benfica played extremely well most of the time and simply needed a better finishing from Cardozo. Had it been there, Benfica could had been 3-1 up by the time of the sending off. Of course, that could have rallied Liverpool in Instambul-like fashion, so we never know.

One note about Di María. I think I am one of the people that least rate him. Yes, he plays at a different speed from anybody else, yes, his dribbling is brilliant, yes, he carves open the defences. But his passing is poor (I wonder how many passes he missed), his decision-making is atrocious and he is very frequently acting as if he wants another ball top play by himself. That said, he does cause defences to collapse on him and opens up immense space for his team-mates, but I still reserve judgement on him when he moves to a bigger league (which will inevitably happen).

Tactically, the switch between Maxi Pereira and Nuno Gomes missed the point for two reasons: Carlos Martins was moved to the right and Aimar tracked back to the midfield, which gave more flair to Benfica, but less work-rate. And Carlos Martins simply did not have the speed to deal with the attacks from Liverpool coming down that flank, which meant that the switch with Ruben Amorim should have taken place immediately. It didin’t and Benfica were very luck with having scored the second of the match.

I do expect a thrilling second leg in one week, though.

Joe on April 2, 2010 at 8:31 pm

Besides the second yellow card to Ínsua for the penalty, the referee didn´’t see (?) a handball by a liverpool player and a kick to cardozo’s shoulder. Two more penalties, and hopefully two more goals, stolen by the referee.

Rui on April 8, 2010 at 9:31 am

Relatively to the Luisão-Babel case, I personally think that the best decision would have been a red card for both: Luisão for a harsh foul and Babel for having bad behaviour.

And I’m glad that I finally met someone with the same opinion about Di Maria as me. I can’t deny that is a good player, but he’s also a little “dumb”.

I think the biggest influence on the game was probably the referee, who went a little bit mad towards the end of the first half and never really recovered.

Whilst Babel’s sending off was frustrating, it wasn’t a ‘wrong’ decision. The fact that Luisao wasn’t shown a straight red for the reckless challenge on Torres that lead up to it is more of a bone of contention.

I agree that the sending off didn’t really change the over all strategy Benitez had deployed, but it did have a marked effect on its execution. Torres was completely isolated, and did well to carve out the couple of opportunities that did come his way, but Gerrard’s tendency to drift inside left Insua painfully exposed. I’m surprised Benfica didn’t concentrate more on attacking down their right, as they could’ve had plenty of joy. And Cardozo wasn’t going to miss those headers all night.

At least it means Liverpool will have to be a bit more adventurous in the second leg, and generally they play much better when they are. The second leg against Lille was fairly similarly poised, and once Benitez took the shackles off Lucas he suddenly looked like a different player. As a Liverpool fan I’m cautiously optimistic.

[...] Benfica 2-1 Liverpool: Benfica scrap to a victory, but it should have been more resounding “A decent game for the neutral tonight, but fairly underwhelming from a tactical point of view. Both sides played as expected, the result was no surprise, and all the goals came from defensive mistakes rather than attacking brilliance. Benfica played with a variation of their usual shape, because of the injury to Javier Saviola. Pablo Aimar moved forward into a more offensive role behind Oscar Cardoso, whilst Carlos Martins came into the centre of midfield. This change meant that Ramires and Angel di Maria played slightly wider than usual, and the two swapped wings throughout the game, although di Maria was always more effective on his natural left-hand side.” (Zonal Marking) [...]

This post was mentioned on Twitter by Zonal_Marking: Benfica 2-1 Liverpool: Benfica scrap to a victory, but it should have been more resounding http://bit.ly/bNGa8N...

Chuck Norris on April 4, 2010 at 7:03 pm

Liverpool fuckin’ suck.
SLB forever.
We definitely deserved the two penalties.
Who ever doesnt think so…Get your head out of your motherfuckin ass.
Babel deserved the red card,no questions asked. if you put your hands in another players face, deserving of a red.

SLB win europa league.

Grobbie on April 6, 2010 at 5:26 pm

very intelligent Chuck Norris maybe you should go read The Sport instead.

Rui on April 8, 2010 at 9:33 am

Chuck Norris is most certainly a Benfica supporter by the way that he talks, or even a member of the Benfica claque who thrown projectiles to the field (shameful…). Maybe he should refrain from doing comments like that one to keep this site nice as it is.